Predictions for Hospitality Technology in 2016

What a difference a year made in hospitality technology. For Americans, Chip-and-PIN/EMV appears to be the new Y2K – those who prepared are feeling terribly anti-climactic, and those who ostriched, so far, haven't felt much pain. It did, however, provide more widespread awareness of the need for credit card tokenization, and data security in general. People who previously hadn't moved to the cloud out of fear of losing data security, now started doing so to actually increase it. And the predicted revolution in HR did indeed happen, but rather than seeking more optimal staffing levels, today's humming business levels made it more of a priority to leverage talent science to avoid bad hires – not only because they are costly, but because there's simply no time for them.

More of the industry infused science into their revenue management practices too, but learned the hard lesson that it all begins with the data, and that some systems aren't just a "cigar box" after all, as was also discovered by their colleagues who were attempting to power guest-facing apps from them. And a lot of system purchasers now have a heightened appreciation for vendors who actually seem to want their business, and for systems that actually do what the presentation made it sound like they would do.

Transaction System Overhaul

So what's coming for the rest of 2016? First, re-read the last two sentences. Many predict that seemingly innocuous "cigar box" systems, such as PMS and POS, will be replaced in droves, and that data collection and security, ease of integration, and overall quality of partnership will actually take priority over system functionality. RMS, CRM, and HCM selections will be made with input from more stakeholders than in the past, but little of the debate will center around whether or not to go cloud.

Credit Card Security

As stated above, in the United States the October EMV/chip-and-pin liability shift deadline came and went with little fanfare. But, I'm afraid that doesn't mean we won't be talking about it for another year. But, shouldn't it at least be a little less boring? If so many hotels blew past the deadline for investing in the new chip readers, shouldn't we now be reading gripping stories about humiliated general managers and IT professionals getting hit with heavy fines, going to jail, or at least being brought downtown for questioning, as a result of their moral turpitude?

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Guest Service: A Culture of YES

In a recent global consumers report, 97% of the participants said that customer service is a major factor in their loyalty to a brand, and 76% said they view customer service as the true test of how much a company values them. And since there is no industry more reliant on customer satisfaction than the hotel industry, managers must be unrelenting in their determination to hire, train and empower the very best people, and to create a culture of exceptional customer service within their organization. Of course, this begins with hiring the right people. There are people who are naturally service-oriented; people who are warm, empathetic, enthusiastic, pleasant, thoughtful and optimistic; people who take pride in their ability to solve problems for the hotel guests they are serving. Then, those same employees must be empowered to solve problems using their own judgment, without having to track down a manager to do it. This is how seamless problem solving and conflict resolution are achieved in guest service. This willingness to empower employees is part of creating a Culture of Yes within an organization.The goal is to create an environment in which everyone is striving to say “Yes”, rather than figuring out ways to say, “No”. It is essential that this attitude be instilled in all frontline, customer-facing, employees. Finally, in order to ensure that the hotel can generate a consistent level of performance across a wide variety of situations, management must also put in place well-defined systems and standards, and then educate their employees about them. Every employee must be aware of and responsible for every standard that applies in their department. The April issue of the Hotel Business Review will document what some leading hotels are doing to cultivate and manage guest satisfaction in their operations.